Source
r/personalfinance•
tinykingdoms

Should I sell my car while the value is high or should I drive it til' it dies?

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I have financed a 2012 VW GTI that is nearly paid off. Currently 2012 GTIs in my area in similar condition are selling for ~$10,000. Should I sell my car while the value is still high[er], or should I drive it to the ground?

If I drive it to the ground I would plan on continuing to contribute my monthly payment [$400] to a side account in preparation for the next vehicle.

EDIT:: Sorry, the loan is almost paid off. The car is mechanically sound with minor cosmetic wear and tear. I have reworded my original post to explain this better.

Posted Sep 30, 2019, 5:57 PM UTC · edited

09
galactica_pegasus​•

Why do you think your 7 year old car "nearing the end of life"?

A commodity car still worth $10k is not "nearing the end of life".

11
tinykingdomsOP•

I worded my original post poorly. The car is working fine. It's my loan that is almost paid off and I am wondering if I should sell it while it is still higher in value or should I drive it until it dies?

1
galactica_pegasus​•

Drive it until it dies.

All commodity cars depreciate. Your vehicle is worth more today than it will be tomorrow, which will be more than it will be worth the day after that. That's just how it goes. But it should have many years left as being cheaper for you to keep and maintain compared to trading in for something newer.

6
Alucardis666•

Most modern day cars can last for 150-200k miles easy. Don't sell your car. Drive it into the dirt.

4
[deleted]•

[removed]

3
tinykingdomsOP•

The current millage is ~75,000. I don't think it's on it's last leg. I'm wondering if it's best to sell the car while it's still worth something? After a bit of research I have found that these cars quickly decline in value after 100,000+ miles. With that said, the car is mechanically sound with minor cosmetic wear and tear.

1
nvp37j​•

Keep in mind most opinions here will favor the ultra conservative regarding cars. It’s often true that vehicles decline in value around thresholds such as 80k, 100k etc. miles. Nobody knows your situation better than you. If you can sell it for top dollar and get into something else for a good deal that makes you happy and is doable for your financial situation, then so be it.

For example, if it’s worth $10k now and may decline to $5k after 100k miles, calculate how long it’ll take you to reach 100k miles to determine the depreciation per month. If it’s 1 year, that’s $417/month. If it’s 2 years, that’s $208/month. In these examples, you could upgrade significantly to a car that’s still under factory warranty etc. and still stay within those figures, while having payments over a longer period of time.

2
greyAbbot•

Economically, the best choice is almost always to drive the car as long as you can (the only real exception being when the car gets to a point where the unreliability costs you money on its own, such as when you can't work because your car is in the shop so much).

But that doesn't necessarily mean that you should drive it into the ground--you just need to realize that selling it before that represents a discretionary lifestyle expense (and not a transportation expense), and weigh that against other discretionary expenses according to what makes you the happiest.

2
ivegotgoodnewsforyou​•

Normally I'd say keep it, but GTI's always seem to come up with super expensive problems as they get closer to 100k miles.

If you were to replace it with a more reliable $10k car I'd sell. If you're going to buy a more expensive car you're probably better off paying to fix the GTI when it breaks.

1
LegoKenBurns​•

It’s a VW, drive it until the wheels come off.

0